Excerpts from the Preface: The possibility of establishing a domestic supply of cork, a subject first explored by Thomas Jefferson, has been pursued with new vigor since war conditions threatened to cut off our sources of this essential material. The cork of commerce is the outer bark which is stripped at intervals from the cork oak tree, Quercus suber, or its subspecies Quercus suber occidentalis. Although the barks of other trees are similar in structure, no other combines to the same extent the qualities of lightness, durability, elasticity, compressibility, nonconductivity, and imperviousness to air and liquids which make cork the ideal material for so many uses. The cork oaks are native to the regions around the western end of the Mediterranean Sea, and success in introducing the species elsewhere depends on the degree to which the climatic and other environmental requirements of the tree are met. This bibliography includes references to the literature on the cork oak and its culture; the stripping, treatment, and properties of cork; and the cork industry and trade of various countries. Material dealing exclusively with the manufacture of cork products is omitted. The scope of each item is indicated by annotations. Arrangement is alphabetical by author, and there is an author and subject index. Scientific names are given in the titles and notes as they were found in the publications.
